Door coordinator assembly

ABSTRACT

A door coordinator assembly which includes a door stop lever engageable with the active door in a pair of independently movable companion doors for both preventing untimely closing of the active door and providing a yieldable shock absorbing stop for the door. The lever is movably mounted on a fixed pivot so that it can move with respect to the pivot to thereby change the effective length of the lever, and the lever is hollow having an internal spring that urges the lever toward a position of maximum length. The spring is compressible to allow the door stop lever to be pivotally moved to a recessed position in response to an abnormally high closing force of the door. A trigger member, actuated by the inactive door, cooperates with a specially constructed body member that engages the door stop lever to normally keep the door stop lever in a position preventing closing of the active door ahead of the inactive door.

United States Patent 11 1 Maynard, Jr. et al.

[ 1 July 22, 1975 1 DOOR COORDINATOR ASSEMBLY [75] Inventors: Ralph D. Maynard, Jr.; Douglas E.

Lirette, both of Ann Arbor, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Door Controls Incorporated, Ann

Arbor, Mich.

[22] Filed: Mar. 11, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 449,953

[52] US. Cl. 49/367; 16/82; 292/333 [51] Int. Cl. EOSC 7/05 [58] Field of Search 49/367, 366, 368, 369;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,015,996 10/1935 Eichackcr ..49/366 3,822,506 7/1974 Fishback 49/367 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 582,993 8/1933 Germany 49/367 Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Olsen and Stephenson ABSTRACT A door coordinator assembly which includes a door stop lever engageable with the active door in a pair of independently movable companion doors for both preventing untimely closing of the active door and providing a yieldable shock absorbing stop for the door. The lever is movably mounted on a fixed pivot so that it can move with respect to the pivot to thereby change the effective length of the lever, and the lever is hollow having an internal spring that urges the lever toward a position of maximum length. The spring is compressible to allow the door stop lever to be pivotally moved to a recessed position in response to an ab normally high closing force of the door. A trigger member, actuated by the inactive door, cooperates with a specially constructed body member that engages the door stop lever to normally keep the door stop lever in a position preventing closing of the active door ahead of the inactive door.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DOOR COORDINATOR ASSEMBLY CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application discloses a door coordinating assembly which is an improvement on the door coordinating device shown in a co-pending application Ser. No. 362,106 filed May 21, 1973, now US. Pat. No. 3,822,506, and assigned to the assignee of this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Companion doors are conventionally constructed with overlapping edges, astragals and rabbeted faces to provide a seal against smoke and hot air in the event of tire. Because of this construction of the adjacent edges of the doors, the overlapping or active door must be held open until the inactive door is closed. Prior art devices have been subject to several very practical objec tions. Many are constructed so that they are unsightly, prone to vandalism or accidental mishap, or subject to failure in which they prevent complete closing of the doors. It is desirable in a door coordinating device to incorporate a shock absorbing function in the device to prevent damage to the door in response to an abnormally high closing force on the door. It is also desirable to incorporate an automatic reset feature in the coordinator assembly so that in the event the active door is forced closed ahead of the inactive door, the coordinator assembly will automatically return to normal position when the active door is next opened. It is also desirable to incorporate an adjustable feature in a door coordinator assembly which will allow adaptation of the assembly to doors of varying weight and subject to varying closing forces. The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide an improved door coordinator assembly which accomplishes these desirable objectives.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The door coordinator assembly of this invention consists of a supporting frame that is mounted in the door frame at the top ends of a pair of independently movable companion doors. A door stop lever is pivotally mounted on the frame so that the free end of the lever will engage the active door adjacent its hinged edge prior to closing of the active door. A trigger member, pivotally mounted on the support frame, controls the movement of a body member that normally holds the door stop lever in a position engaged with the active door so as to keep it in an open position until the trigger member is moved in response to closing of the inactive door.

The door stop lever is hollow and has an internal compression spring that cooperates with the pivotal support for the door stop lever to impart a shock absorbing capability to the door stop lever. In addition, the spring enables the door stop lever to move under yieldable pressure with respect to its pivotal support to a position overriding the body member thereby preventing damage to the door in response to an abnormally high closing force on the active door. The spring pressure is adjustable to adapt the door coordinator assembly to doors of different weights and subject to different closing forces.

In summary, therefore, the door coordinator assembly of this invention has the desirable features of shock absorbing capability, reset ability and adjustability by virtue of the spring and pivotal mounting provided for the door stop member.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the door coordinator assembly of this invention, shown in an installed relation with respect to a pair of independently movable companion doors, only fragmentary portions of which are shown, showing the components of the coordinator assembly in positions corresponding to closing positions of the doors; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view, like FIG. 1, showing the coordinator components in positions corresponding to closed positions of the companion doors.

With reference to the drawing, the door coordinator assembly of this invention, indicated generally at 10, is shown in FIG. 1 as including a supporting frame 12 mounted in a door frame 14, preferably at the upper end of the frame 14. For details of the location of the frame 12, reference is made to the aforementioned copending application. The assembly 10 is provided for controlling the sequence of closing ofa pair ofindependently movable companion doors consisting of an active door 16 and an inactive door 18. The doors are supported at their outer edges 20 on conventional hinges 22 so that when the doors are closed (FIG. 2), their inner or free edges 24 are adjacent each other and an astragal 26 on the active door 16 overlaps the free edge 24 of the inactive door 18.

The assembly 10 includes a door stop lever 28 having a pivoted end 30 and a free end 32. The lever 28 is hollow, having an internal cavity 34 shaped at one end to fit on a pivot member 36 secured to the support frame 12. Since the lever 28 is in surface to surface engagement with the pivot 36, it is desirable that the pivot 36 have some of the characteristics ofa sleeve bearing and it is therefore preferred to form the pivot of Oilite. The cavity 34 is of a width corresponding substantially to the diameter of the fixed pivot 36 thereby enabling the lever 28 to move longitudinally along the axis 38 to in turn move the free end 32 of the lever 28 closer to or further away from the fixed pivot 36 to adjust the effective length of the lever 38.

A coil spring 40 is positioned in the cavity 34 and is provided at one end with an internal plug 42. The plug 42 engages a set screw 44 carried by the lever 28 and the opposite end of the spring 40 engages the pivot 36. Thus, adjustment of the screw 44 operates to vary the compression of the spring 40 to thereby vary the force necessary to move the lever 28 on the axis 38 to compress the spring 40. A hairpin spring 46 extends between the frame 12 and the lever 28 to normally urge the lever 28 from its recessed position shown in FIG. 2 to its protruding positions shown in FIG. 1.

A bell crank shaped trigger member 48 is pivotally supported on a fixed pivot 50 carried by the frame 12 and has one end 52 engageable with the inactive door 18 and another end which is connected by a pivot to one end of a link 56. The opposite end of the link 56 is connected by a pivot 58 to a body member 60 mounted on the support 12 for movement between the extended and retracted positions illustrated in FIGS. I and 2, respectively. A hairpin spring 64 normally urges the trigger member 48 toward its operative position shown in FIG. 1.

Closing of the inactive door 18 moves the trigger member 48 to its inoperative position shown in FIG. 2. Movement of the trigger member 48 to its inoperative position causes the link 56 to pull the body member 60 from its extended position shown in FIG. 1 to its retracted position shown in FIG. 2 in which the body member 60 is out of the way of the door stop lever 28. This enables the door stop member 28 to be moved to its recessed position shown in FIG. 2 thereby allowing the active door 16 to close. Closing movement of the active door 16 at this time is desirable inasmuch as the inactive door 18 has already closed. Prior to closing of the inactive door 18, the body member 60, in its extended position shown in FIG. 1, blocks movement of the door stop member 28 to its recessed position thereby preventing closing of the active door 16 out of sequence with the inactive door 18.

In the operation ofthe assembly 10, assume that both doors l6 and 18 are open, in which case the springs 46 and 64 have moved the door stop member 28 and the trigger member 48 to the positions shown in FIG. 1. Should the door 16 close with normal force against the door stop member 28, the door stop member 28 will check the closing movement of the door 16 and will hold the active door in the partially open position shown in FIG. 1. Closing movement of the door 16 against the lever 28 will apply a force against the lever 28 that will have a component parallel to the spring axis 38 which will be absorbed by the spring 40. This shock absorbing characteristic of the assembly 10 is important from the standpoint of maintaining the door 16 over a prolonged service life.

The lever 28 will thus hold the door 16 in its partially open position shown in FIG. 1 until the inactive door closes. thereby rotating the trigger 48 and moving the body member 60 to its retracted position shown in FIG. 2. The closing force of the door 16 on the lever 28 will then move the lever 28 past the body member 60 to the recessed position shown in FIG. 2. The doors l6 and 18 will then be in their desired relationship when closed.

When doors l6 and 18 are again both opened, the spring 64 will move the trigger 48 to its FIG. 1 position in which the body member 60 will be moved against a shoulder 65 on a block 62 thereby insuring the desired extended position for the body member 60. When the door 16 tends to close with a large force against the lever 28, this force will be transmitted to the body member 60 in a manner to tend to move the body member 60 rearwardly. A rear edge surface 66 on the body member 60 is engaged with a complimentary surface 68 on the block 62 so that the fixed block 62 will maintain the body member 60 in its FIG. 1 position. This arrangement maintains the body member 60 in working condition over a prolonged service life.

In the event the door 16 should, for some abnormal condition, tend to close with a force that is so great that it would have a destructive effect on the door 16, the lever 28 will override the body member 60. This will take place by virtue of the capability of the lever member 28 to move longitudinally of the axis 38 a distance sufficient to enable the effective length of the lever 28 to be shortened enough to allow the lever 28 to move past the body member 60 when the body member 60 is in its extended position shown in FIG. 1. The door 16 will then close ahead of the inactive door 18. Such closing movement is not the desired sequence but is preferable to having the coordinator assembly 10 destroy the active door 16.

Such closing out of sequence is not totally objectionable, however, in the event the assembly 10 automatically returns to normal operation in response to the next opening of the door 16. This is accomplished in the assembly 10 by virtue of the inclusion of the spring 40 in the lever 28. Spring 40 will automatically extend the lever 28 to its FIG. 2 position as soon as the door 16 is next opened. Thus, all of the components of the assembly 10 will return to their FIG. 1 positions as soon as both doors l6 and 18 are opened. This automatic reset feature is an important attribute of the assembly 10.

From the above description it is seen that the door coordinator assembly 10 of this invention automatically controls the sequence of closing of the doors 16 and 18. By virtue of the inclusion of the coil spring 40 in the lever 28, the assembly 10 performs a shock absorbing function and has an automatic reset capability. The pressure of the spring 40 is readily adjustable by manipulation of the spring 44 to adapt the assembly to hard closing doors and particularly heavy doors. Thus, the assembly 10 is readily adaptable to a variety of door installations.

What is claimed is:

1. A door coordinator assembly for independently movable companion doors consisting of an active door and an inactive door each of which has a hinged edge and a free edge, said assembly comprising a fixed pivot member, a stop lever mounted on said pivot member for both pivotal and translatory movement relative to said pivot member, said stop lever being pivotally movable between protruding and recessed positions, said lever in its protruding position being engageable with said active door adjacent the hinged edge thereof to impede closing of said active door, said lever being movable to said recessed position on closing of said active door, a trigger member movable between an operative position engageable with said inactive door to prevent closing thereof and an inoperative position in which said trigger member is out of the way of said inactive door during closing thereof, means engaged with and extending between said trigger member and said stop lever maintaining said stop lever in said protruding position so long as said trigger member is in said operative position, and spring means extending between said stop lever and said pivot member in a position to resist said translatory movement of said stop lever, said spring means being capable of absorbing shock loads applied to said lever by said active door so as to cause translatory movement of said stop lever.

2. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 1 wherein said stop lever is formed with a cavity in which said pivot member and said spring means are located, and said spring means comprises a coil spring member extending between said pivot member and the protruding end of said stop lever thereby enabling movement of said lever in a direction against the pressure of said spring member and with respect to said pivot member to enable shortening of the effective length of said stop leverv 3. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 2 further including means mounted on said lever member and engageable with said spring means for adjusting the pressure of said coil spring on said stop lever.

4. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 3 wherein said coil spring member has an axis generally parallel to said active door when said stop lever is engaged with said active door.

5. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 1 wherein said means extending between said trigger member and said door stop member includes a body member engaged with the rear side of said stop lever in the protruding position of said stop lever so as to block pivotal movement of said lever toward the recessed position thereof, said body member being movable to a clearance position with respect to said stop lever so as not to interfere with movement of said stop lever to said recessed position therefor, and means connected to and extending between said trigger member and said body member providing for said body member movement in response to movement of said trigger member to said inoperative position.

6. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 5 wherein said means extending between said trigger member and said body member comprises a link member pivotally connected to and extending between said lever member and said body member.

7. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 5 wherein said body member is provided with a front surface engageable with said stop lever to normally prevent pivotal movement of the stop lever from its protruding to its recessed position, said stop lever being movable in response to compression of said spring means past said front surface to said recessed position therefor in the extended position of said body member thereby enabling closing movement of said active door in response to the application of a large closing force of said door on said stop lever. 

1. A door coordinator assembly for independently movable companion doors consisting of an active door and an inactive door each of which has a hinged edge and a free edge, said assembly comprising a fixed pivot member, a stop lever mounted on said pivot member for both pivotal and translatory movement relative to said pivot member, said stop lever being pivotally movable between protruding and recessed positions, said lever in its protruding position being engageable with said active door adjacent the hinged edge thereof to impede closing of said active door, said lever being movable to said recessed position on closing of said active door, a trigger member movable between an operative position engageable with said inactive door to prevent closing thereof and an inoperative position in which said trigger member is out of the way of said inactive door during closing thereof, means engaged with and extending between said trigger member and said stop lever maintaining said stop lever in said protruding position so long as said trigger member is in said operative position, and spring means extending between said stop lever and said pivot member in a position to resist said translatory movement of said stop lever, said spring means being capable of absorbing shock loads applied to said lever by said active door so as to cause translatory movement of said stop lever.
 2. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 1 wherein said stop lever is formed with a cavity in which said pivot member and said spring means are located, and said spring means comprises a coil spring member extending between said pivot member and the protruding end of said stop lever thereby enabling movement of said lever in a direction against the pressure of said spring member and with respect to said pivot member to enable shortening of the effective length of said stop lever.
 3. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 2 further including means mounted on said lever member and engageable with said spring means for adjusting the pressure of said coil spring on said stop lever.
 4. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 3 wherein said coil spring member has an axis generally parallel to said active door when said stop lever is engaged with said active door.
 5. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 1 wherein said means extending between said trigger member and said door stop member includes a body member engaged with the rear side of said stop lever in the protruding position of said stop lever so as to block pivotal movement of said lever toward the recessed position thereof, said body member being movable to a clearance position with respect to said stop lever so as not to interfere with movement of said stop lever to said recessed position therefor, and means connected to and extending between said trigger member and said body member providing for said body member movement in response to movement of said trigger member to said inoperative position.
 6. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 5 wherein said means extending between said trigger member and said body member coMprises a link member pivotally connected to and extending between said lever member and said body member.
 7. A door coordinator assembly according to claim 5 wherein said body member is provided with a front surface engageable with said stop lever to normally prevent pivotal movement of the stop lever from its protruding to its recessed position, said stop lever being movable in response to compression of said spring means past said front surface to said recessed position therefor in the extended position of said body member thereby enabling closing movement of said active door in response to the application of a large closing force of said door on said stop lever. 